Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is building another new drainage pumping station in Bhowanipore’s Northern Park.
The construction will take about a year, with the total project costing Rs 43.5 crore. Out of this, Rs 37 crore will be released by the National Disaster Management Authority. The rest will be from KMC’s funds, with which they have already procured pumps.
Several roads in the Bhowanipore area, particularly Justice Dwarakanath Road, Allenby Road, Heysham Road, Lee Road, Elgin Road, Justice Chandramadhab Road and Woodburn Road, are prone to waterlogging.
Many of these roads are also listed as waterlogging-prone pockets in KMC’s records. The drainage pumping station will come up in a portion of the children’s corner at Northern Park.
The pumping station was likely to be an L-shaped structure. There would still be a large open space for children to play.
Besides the drainage pumping station, about a 4km-long network will be laid as part of the project. The new network will be needed to divert rainwater from the existing network to the new pumping station.
Currently, the rainwater from the Bhowanipore neighbourhood reaches the Ballygunge Drainage Pumping Station in Park Circus through an underground drainage network. The water is then drained into canals.
Once the new pumping station at Northern Park is ready, the rainwater will be drained into Tolly’s Nullah. But when it does not rain, the sewage will still reach the Ballygunge Drainage Pumping Station for treatment before being discharged into a canal.
Environmental regulations bar the release of sewage directly into a canal or river during non-rainy days. It can harm aquatic flora and fauna.
When it rains, the harmful effects of the sewage get diluted, and the combination of sewage and rainwater can be directly discharged into a canal or a river.
The pumping station’s role will be to drain water from roads faster.
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